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Innovation is the ruling buzzword in business today. In this book, innovation experts Peter J. Denning and Robert Dunham inform us how the chances of an innovative idea’s becoming successful can be increased. Defining innovation as not simply an invention, but a policy and process that is to be managed, they explain that it is a personal skill that can be learnt, developed through practice, and extended into organizations. It is also the art of getting people to adopt change. The authors identify and describe eight personal practices that all successful innovators perform: sensing, envisioning, offering, adopting, sustaining, executing, leading, and embodying. Together, these practices can boost a fledgling innovator to success. Weakness in any of these practices, they show, blocks innovation. The authors Denning and Dunham describe innovation at scales ranging from the private (a family organization of chores and allowances) to the planetary (the invention and adoption of the World Wide Web). They provide a detailed account of the eight practices and how to accomplish them; and they chart the path to innovation mastery, from individual practices to teams and social networks. “Truly innovative thinking about innovative thinking—but it’s the authenticity of the authors’ experience that makes this book uniquely valuable and valuably unique.” —Michael Schrage Research Fellow, MIT Sloan School Center for Digital Business About The Author Peter J. Denning is Distinguished Professor, Chair of the Computer Science Department, and Director of the Cebrowski Institute for Information Innovation and Superiority at the Naval Postgraduate School in Monterey, California. Robert Dunham, founder, Institute for Generative Leadership and the consulting company Enterprise Performance. Table Of Contents Preface Acknowledgments I. Foundations of Innovation 1. Invention Is Not Enough 2. Generative Innovators in Action 3. Frames of Mind 4. Observing II. The Eight Practices 5. Practice One: Sensing 6. Practice Two: Envisioning 7. Practice Three: Offering 8. Practice Four: Adopting 9. Practice Five: Sustaining 10. Practice Six: Executing 11. Practice Seven: Leading 12. Practice Eight: Embodying III. Journey to Mastery 13. Building a Culture of Innovation 14. Mastering the Mess 15. Social Networking and Innovation 16. Dispositions of the Masters Epilogue: Stradivarius Street Appendix 1 Eight Practices Summary Chart Appendix 2 Eight Practices Assessment Tool Appendix 3 Levels of Performance at Innovation Appendix 4 Somatic Exercises About the Authors Index